GYORKO SEES A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING

DENVER 
Completing his first week as a major league baseball player, Padres infielder Jedd Gyorko already has experienced the good, the bad and the “weird.”

“Up and down, up and down, almost everything you could expect,” Gyorko said before wrapping up the season-opening road trip Sunday at Coors Field with a 9-1 loss to the Rockies. “Played second. Played third. Had an awful game and was able to bounce back. Overall, it’s been pretty good.”

Making his major league debut against the New York Mets at Citi Field last Monday, Gyorko left four runners stranded in his first two at bats, but he finished the game with his first major league hit. He pulled off a rarity for Padres rookies, too, rapping out hits in each of his first three games and posting his first RBI. He drove in two of the Padres’ three runs Saturday night.

All spring, major focus in Peoria was on Gyorko’s conversion from third baseman to second, and it was his footwork and glovework on the right side of the infield that convinced the Padres he should make the Opening Day lineup. Yet, due to the injuries of Chase Headley and Logan Forsythe, Gyorko was back at third base before the end of that first game in New York. His first throw, short and wide, was ruled an error.

Not unpredictably, though, Gyorko had to get to Coors Field for the unusual to start happening.

Late in the Friday opener, he hit a sizzler over shortstop that Troy Tulowitzki went high to grab. Unbeknown to Gyorko, and most everyone else but a vigilant third-base umpire, though, the ball came out of Tulowitzki’s glove and was ruled no catch. Picking up the ball and starting to walk off the field, Tulowitzki eventually flipped the ball over to teammate Josh Rutledge for the third out.

Gyorko, meanwhile, was caught standing still between the plate and first. He was taking off his shinguard when looking up to see himself getting thrown out at first.

“I didn’t really know what happened,” Gyorko said. “Even (first baseman Todd) Helton was running off the field. Just one of those weird plays, I guess, but it’s a learning experience. You’ve got to play it out, no matter what happens. Never assume anything. I can learn from it.

“Obviously, it didn’t look good. I just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Asked if he’d ever even seen a play like that before, Gyorko said with a straight face, “I didn’t see this one, either.”

If there has been anything truly striking about Gyorko’s presence in the Padres’ clubhouse and lineup — and he started all six games — it’s how far he is from the stereotypical, goggle-eyed rookie in his first trip around the majors. He looks, acts and sounds like he has been with the Padres for years.

“There’s no doubt he’s excited, thrilled to be a major league player, but he’s not showing it,” said manager Bud Black. “In a way, it’s sort of like his personality. He’s steady. He’s dependable. He plays a sturdy game. He’s calm.